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Today's program was an interesting presentation by Jon Yankovic, who drives snow plow among other duties for Ramsey County. He is apparently quite proficient - having been named a recent winner of the annual "Snow Plow Rodeo" held each year in St. Cloud, MN! His winter-time duties require a 2:00 a.m. start time, with his route normally being commercial rather than residential, including Hwys.10 and 96. Despite his non-residential route, he has developed skills to enable him to avoid obstacles like mailboxes and traffic cones, which his rodeo win proves. The County uses two types of plows which weigh 40,000 to 55,000 lbs. when fully loaded with salt. These cost $200,000 to $250,000 each and are normally used for about 10 years before being replaced. Jon noted the ongoing conundrum regarding the reliance on salt to melt road ice. No other substance has been found to do the job, so we continue to rely on it despite the detrimental effect it has on area lakes and rivers. Jon is clearly a patient man and takes in stride the obnoxious driver behaviors he sometimes encounters on his route. He is clearly a great fit for the demanding and often thankless task of working to make our winter-time driving less dangerous!July 9 - Club Meeting
Today's program was an interesting presentation by Jon Yankovic, who drives snow plow among other duties for Ramsey County. He is apparently quite proficient - having been named a recent winner of the annual "Snow Plow Rodeo" held each year in St. Cloud, MN! His winter-time duties require a 2:00 a.m. start time, with his route normally being commercial rather than residential, including Hwys.10 and 96. Despite his non-residential route, he has developed skills to enable him to avoid obstacles like mailboxes and traffic cones, which his rodeo win proves. The County uses two types of plows which weigh 40,000 to 55,000 lbs. when fully loaded with salt. These cost $200,000 to $250,000 each and are normally used for about 10 years before being replaced. Jon noted the ongoing conundrum regarding the reliance on salt to melt road ice. No other substance has been found to do the job, so we continue to rely on it despite the detrimental effect it has on area lakes and rivers. Jon is clearly a patient man and takes in stride the obnoxious driver behaviors he sometimes encounters on his route. He is clearly a great fit for the demanding and often thankless task of working to make our winter-time driving less dangerous!